[...]nse to ma="trms">jesty (hidden wisdom, significance) ='lgc'>=/= ="trms">generalizing='lgc'> = moralizing (inductio exemplorum, citing of ="trms">instructive general causes ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> forensic)
="lsts lst1">•

credible deeply unusual singular event ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> admiratio

='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]perspectival='lgc'>: reaction of a particular “us” to an “other” that is “other” only relative to the particular “us” (='lgc'><='lgc'>-- ='thdf'>this is why ="nms">="nms">ajayebnameh is ="trms">interesting)
="lsts lst1">•James of Vitry ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>***cyclopses who all have one eye marvel as much at those who have two eyes as we marvel at them='strcls'>*** (1200)
="lsts lst1">•Gosswin of Metz ='and'>& John Mandeville ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> turning such perspectivalism into gently ironic comments on themselves
="lsts lst1">•William of Rubruck ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> barefoot ="trms">travel through harsh terrain and climate required by Franciscan asceticism seems as ="trms">monstrous a practice in the East as certain Eastern customs appear when reported “back home”
="lsts lst1">•

="large lg2" stl="font-size:111%">

='strcls'>**(how='qstn'>? can we simply='qstn'>?) study medieval emotion='strcls'>** ='lgc'>=/= ="trms">wonder stated by ="trms">historians, ="trms">travelers, theologians, philosophers, preachers, devotional ="trms">writers

='strcls'>*traces of emotion='strcls'>* that survive are mediated through texts, pictures, artifacts ='lgc'>--="ppl">Bynum='lgc'>='lgc'>--> we are not entitled either to assume a ="trms">sort of ="ppl">Darwinian universal emotion, or to think that emotion-behavior is culturally constructed (as to exist only where we find words for it)

='strcls'>***texts may give us access to reactions less through adjectives attached to nouns='strcls'>*** (by calling something “="trms">wonderful” or “d="trms"nttrm="already,spread">readful” ='lgc'>=/= indicating the ="trms">responses of an implicit ="trms"nttrm="already,spread">reader/viewer)
="lsts lst1">•a keyword search for “="trms"nttrm="danger,stranger">anger” will tend to turn up set pieces on how to control it ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> discussions of where it is not
="lsts lst1">•reactions such as ="trms">wonder, delight, or terror (do not simply occur) they are ='strcls'>*evoked='strcls'>*, sometimes even ='strcls'>*="trms">staged='strcls'>* ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> we can explore what evoked them

finding ="trms">wonder-words ='lgc'>=/= finding ="trms">wonder (complex semantic field)

="trms">wonder-reaction='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•terror
="lsts lst1">•disgust
="lsts lst1">•solemn astonishment
="lsts lst1">•playful delight

in medieval accounts ="trms">wonder often has='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•a mischievous quality
Bernard of Clairvaux ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> spice of ="trms">stories
11th century ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> (naughtily) impish girl saint ="trms">jokes
="frds scrmbld">Gerald of Wales ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">nature's pranks
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> moralizing ="trms">bestiary tradition (taking more pleasure in the ="trms">animal tales than in theology)
analogies between ="trms">animals and humans are anything but solemn and didactic
="lsts lst1">•a d="trms"nttrm="already,spread">readful quality
(="ppl">Attar's accounts of saint torture)
="frds scrmbld">Gerald of Wales ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> recounting some of the earliest warewold ="trms">stories to survive in european ="trms">literature, he glosses the admiratio felt by those inside the ="trms">story as stupor خرفتی, timor بیم, ="trms">horror خوف
="lsts lst2">◦shape-shifting violating ="trms">nature
="lsts lst2">◦tales of ="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">meta="trms">morphoses ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> the real change of substance in the eucharist عشاربانى ='lgc'>+ the terrifying possibility that sexual ="trms">intercourse between humans and ="trms">animals might produce ="trms">monsters


(="ppl">Bynum asking) what in medieval accounts or artistic re="trms">presentations tends to t="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">rigger ="trms">wonder='qstn'>? ='strcls'>*where do the surviving source give us access either to intensely heightened reactions or to events and objects calculated to evoke or ="trms">stage such reactions='qstn'>?='strcls'>*
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> where ="trms">wonder is not='qstn'>?


(didactic purposes of) miracle collections
='strcls'>*hovering significance='strcls'>* (of unusual ="trms">natural events='lgc'>: eclipse, earthquakes, famines) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> sometimes ="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">listed as clipped ="trms">matter-of-fact prose
William Auvergne ='lgc'>+ ="ppl">="ppl">Oresme ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">natural causes can be found for marvels tend to flatten the ="trms">language of some accounts of ="trms">natural ="trms">world as well
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>==> miracles, portents فال بد, oddities are sites and ="trms">stagings of ="trms">wonder less often than we might ="trms">suppose


12th - 14th century ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">narrative accounts tell us of objects and events carefully constructed to elicit awe, delight, d="trms"nttrm="already,spread">read
='strcls'>*rulers (secular ='lgc'>+ ecclesiastical) ='lgc'>--competed='lgc'>='lgc'>--> display of power and splender in="trms"nttrm="cluster,club">cluding tricks and automata ='lgc'>--calculated='lgc'>='lgc'>--> to amaze and tantalize='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•(13th century) خانه وحشت 🏰 evidence of a count of Artois who built an elaborate funhouse with distorting mirrors, rooms that simulated thunderstorms, hidden pipes for wetting unsuspecting visitors and covering them with flour
="lsts lst1">•puppet shows in ="trms">pastry (sotelties)
="lsts lst1">•food was often planned as an illusion or trick for the eye (='lgc'>-='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='gtrw'>go to in="trms">stagram cake baked in the shape of ordinary objects)
="lsts lst1">•changes in church architecture in liturgy (آئین نماز) ='lgc'>+ fabrication of ="trms">monstrances ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> define the moment in the Mass when ='strcls'>*the consecrated host (the devine installed in food or flesh or ="trms">matter) was elevated as a sudden revelation of the unexpected and paradoxical='strcls'>*
="lsts lst2">◦collection of relics and their ='strcls'>**elaborate containers='strcls'>** (reliquaries محفظه عتیقه) ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> similarity and ="trms">historical connection to wunderkammer of early medieval princes='lgc'>]
="lsts lst1">•
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> theologians and many of the ordinary faithful continued ='strcls'>*to value the super="trms">natural power mediated through bone chips or dust='strcls'>* more than the intricate workmanship or sheer novelty of the container ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*object='lgc'> = a means of access to an other tham as a singularity fascinating in itself='strcls'>*
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*relic cabinets ='lgc'>~= cabinets of novelties='strcls'>*
='lgc'>}='lgc'>--underlying='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>***impulse to collect='strcls'>***

mirabile visu!
='strcls'>****(12th century) abbot Suger of St. Denis describes the crowd (more desperate to touch, possess, appropriate) that is frantic over access to a power not only ='strcls'>*beyond='strcls'>* but also in its ="trms">nature ='strcls'>*other than='strcls'>* what contains it
(God lodged in decayed body, manifested and hidden behind the crystal and gold)

="trms">narrative accounts not only described objects and events that were ="trms">staged or constructed to produce ="trms">wonder ='lgc'>+ they also ='strcls'>*teemed with complex ="trms">wonder-reactions='strcls'>*
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> hagiographer (="ppl">Attar's) detailed in emotional ="trms">sensual ="trms">language the extravagant asceticism and para-mystical manifestations holy women experienced ='lgc'>+ the amazement such manifestations engendered in others ='lgc'>{beauty was not merely referred to as ="trms">wonderful, ='strcls'>*it was also described in ="trms">loving and lyrical ="trms">language='strcls'>* as signaling a deeper pattern or purpose='lgc'>}

(old ="ppl">Augustinian idea that) the ="trms">world itself is a miracle ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> (homi="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list Aelfric) wundra (marvels) of God
="lsts lst1">•it requires no sorcery that the moon waxes and wanes, that the sea agrees with it, that the earth greens in ="trms">response to its power 🌙
="lsts lst1">•(recounting the migration of salmon upstream to spawn) they leap from bottom to top with a leap that is marvellous, and except that is is proper to the ="trms">nature of fish, marvellous


سندباد ="nms">Sinbad
='lgc'>[fantastical='lgc'>] ="trms">travelers’ tales (recounted) the ='strcls'>*fearsome='strcls'>* and the ='strcls'>*ugly='strcls'>* ='lgc'>--as='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*="trms">wonderful='strcls'>*
to Marco Polo almost every ="trms">animal he met was a marvel (the horrible cro="trms">codile, beautiful giraffe) ='lgc'>[described with an earnest and urgent facticity ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="nms">ajayeb's tone='lgc'>]

in later middle ages (and in toda popular media) ='strcls'>*strangeness appealed='strcls'>* ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">stories abounded='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•of ="trms">fabulous palces
="lsts lst1">•of stones with marvellous powers
="lsts lst1">•of ="trms">monsters
="lsts lst1">•of mermaids
="lsts lst1">•of fairies
="lsts lst1">•of bizarre races with eyes in their chests or enormous umbrella feet

="lsts lst1">•Marco Polo's awkward and impoverished prose
="lsts lst1">•Mandeville's credulous tale-telling
="lsts lst1">•="nms">Sinbad='lgc'>: ='lgc'>[a powerful sense that='lgc'>] what is ="trms">wonderful='lgc'>: (is not chickens and peacocks, even cyclopses and cannibals per se, but) ='strcls'>**a ="trms">world that encompasses such ="trms">staggering diversity='strcls'>** ='lgc'>--="ppl">Bynum='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>******the impulse to chronicle (such things) ='lgc'>~= a critique of the impulse to possess them='strcls'>******

“If you ='lgc'>[="frds scrmbld"nttrm="Alex,Alert,Aleph,Alessi">Alexander the Great='lgc'>] had a body that matched your greedy mind and heart that know no bounds in their desires, or if your body equaled your great cupidity, the great ="trms">world itself would not suffice to contain you ... Your ="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">right hand would hold the East, the left the West. Not content with this, in all your prayers you would be ="trms">consumed with desire to investigate and find out where that amazing light hid itself, and would dare to climb into the sun’s chariot and ... control its wandering beams. So, too, you desire much that you cannot possess. Having subdued the ="trms">world and conquered the human race, delighting in blood, you will wage war against trees, ="trms">wild ="trms">beasts, rocks and mountain snows. ='strcls'>*You will not allow the strange creatures that ="trms"nttrm="failure,blur,plur,lurk,tallur,slur">lurk in the caves to be untouched. Even senseless elements will be compelled to experience your rages.='strcls'>*
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>***Chatillon's powerful prose understands that marveling at diversity can be the prelude to appropriation='strcls'>***
='strcls'>*marveling at diversity ='lgc'>='lgc'>~=> appropriation='strcls'>*


='strcls'>*impulse to collect/chronicle/="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list ='lgc'>--(critique='lgc'>[="trms">sublimated='qstn'>?='lgc'>])='lgc'>='lgc'>-->='lgc'>~='qstn'>?=>(='lgc'><='lgc'>--)(='lgc'>~/=!!) impulse to posses='strcls'>*


beautiful ='lgc'>+ horrible ='lgc'>+ ="trms">skillfully made ='lgc'>==induce='lgc'>='lgc'>==> ="trms">wonder
biz[...]